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My first year participating in Ryan McNeil's yearly event has been fruitful. Not only did I have a extensively growing watch list, I found films that I haven't heard of, and got new favorite movies from my own Blind Spot list. Some months were a struggle, but it was worth it - I got to cross out movies that wouldn't even been crossed out any time soon, and I've enjoyed reading other people's entries and their own stories about discovering something new about their picks.
While finalizing my list for next year, it dawned on me that the films I chose were reflective on what made my list last year. I've been meaning to see these works, but get pushed due to other circumstances. Some of my picks this year were also influenced by previous blind spots choices, whether of my own or others. Here are the films that compose this year's list:

This is the last theme of the month for Wandering Through The Shelves' Movie Meme! Entries have been somewhat of a staple around here, so if you still haven't joined, it's not too late! This week's theme: French films. My knowledge of film has grown intensively because of the internet and American films employing French actors. While my movie-watching habits haven't switched to the non-English category, I've been slowly dipping my toes to European film, albeit in limited works. I've always admired the French's creativity when it comes to their work; they're very free when it comes to expression. I haven't seen a great share of French cinema, or even some of the lauded work from influential directors, but I'm slowly getting there. Here are my picks for this week:

If you watch the trailer, there's no need for you to spend money on the actual movie when it comes on theaters. It basically lays out everything to expect (all those magical things, the lovely costumes, the special effects) that there's nothing to anticipate. It does look very glamorous though, and Cate Blanchett seemed to have nailed the role just right. I was expecting Helena Bonham Carter to be dressed really weird (as her other movies), but put her beside Cinderella and Cinderella still doesn't come close to the beauty that is her fairy godmother.

*This post contains spoilers*
This is the penultimate choice for this year’s blind spot series. And not a bad one at it. Rather, I found it difficult to compartmentalize coherent paragraphs about this film. I think the film has triggered something, that even when I’m looking at graphics and lines from the film, there this sense of joy and sadness that overcomes me. I think that is what the film is about. That culmination of joy and sadness, of hopelessness and optimism that surrounds the characters, and the harsh realities of the worlds they are pushed in.

Growing up has never portrayed as brilliantly as Richard Linklater did in Boyhood. Shooting his two-hour film in a span of years, he brings us to the experience of actual growing up, from those pre-pubescent years to eventual adulthood. While its premise doesn't seem much on paper, it resonates with you more than you know.

The first trailer gave me nothing to work with, as it was all just graphics and all the actors looking unusual. This however gives a glimpse of what the movie is really going to be about. Come Oscar season, if slots for best actress isn't going to be filled, I bet Meryl Streep will be a defacto nominee. Though set in a dark, bleak, atmosphere, it seems whimsical enough to work. However, if it translates well onscreen will be the question. Rob Marshall directed Chicago, which is one of the best onscreen musicals I've seen. He worked with a dark background there and filled the stage with enough pop of color that the musical numbers become distinct. He might just work his charm here, and along with a great cast, there is potential that this might work.

As much as I love films, there are some works that are much better to watch when you're all cuddled up in your blanket and just want to relax and unwind and forget the world (which is a rare event these days). To limit myself to ten movies, the ones who make on the list are those that I have seen for the first time this year, no matter when it was released. These are the films that made the cut:

When you come out of the cinema arguing passionately, I think it's a sign of a mind-baffling film. An added bonus to this is when none of you know what the film was ultimately about, and putting your trust that Christopher Nolan will deliver a great film. When reviews for Interstellar started streaming in, the reaction varied, so I wasn't sure what to expect. While it did leave me a lot questions, its third act's questionable scenes included, Interstellar was quite the film that leaves things shaken up.

I'm slowly preparing my entries for the last leg of Wandering Through the Shelves' movie meme (I'm not sure if she will plan to continue it until next year), so if you haven't joined in the fun, there's still a few weeks left! One of the topics that Hollywood hasn't failed in showing us are the behind the scenes look in movies, even if they were fictional itself. I think that at some point, we, the non-film making industry people sometimes want to catch a glimpse of the process it takes to make a movie. While most of the works are fictional accounts, the behind the scene process is actually a great story telling point, as there is a lot of drama that happens off-screen. Here are my picks for this week's theme:

To celebrate fairy tales, Fitzi Kramer of Movies Silently is hosting the Fairy Tale Blogathon which will run from November 9 to 11 this year. For my entry, I decided to review Penelope, a modern retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast. It stars Christina Ricci, and this movie also marks the day the name "James McAvoy" landed on my radar, and I have been tuning in his work since.

Do you have an idea of your ideal partner? Like making a mental list about the kind of person you’d want to spend your life with? Does it matter if your current partner meets all your expectations, or do basics (however you want to define it) suffice? When your relationship starts to become rocky, do you just abandon ship, or revisit your relationship to find and solve the problem? This is how we meet Sophie and Ethan, two people who are trying to make their marriage work. They have been seeing a therapist for some time, and their sessions are going nowhere, prompting their therapist to send them off in a weekend getaway to reconnect and rekindle their passion.

When you're in a writing slump, reviewing anything seems like a chore. I've been taking a step back from thinking about relevant words that my brain can muster, and instead enjoying the films I've seen with no blog repercussions. My weekly TV binge is slowly forming itself. From this season's new releases, I have Blackish, Jane the Virgin, How to Get Away with Murder, The Affair and The Mysteries of Laura on my watch list. What's on your watch list this season?